


Familia Supra Omnia

by insominia



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Developing Relationship, Domestic Violence, First Kiss, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Protective Boone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 06:58:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10354689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insominia/pseuds/insominia
Summary: "Hey," Boone said, catching Six across the chest as the courier made to follow. "You don't have to go."The smile Six gave didn't quite reach his eyes, "I'll go. They've all been so worried about me. It's the least I can do I guess...after everything they've been through."--Courier Six finds the family he'd forgotten he'd had, but it's not the bed of roses everyone thought it would be.





	

Cass was evidently pleased with herself, grinning triumphantly from ear to ear, as the courier stared at the papers in unblinking disbelief. His employment record with the Mojave Express; complete with his real name, and, more terrifyingly, his next of kin and a location.

"All this time and they were in spitting distance of you!" Cass laughed, pointing at the town's proximity to NCR outpost. "All those jokes about being stuck there and your folks were just the other side of the gate."

Nobody seemed to notice that the courier was not as delighted with the news as everyone else. Nobody except Boone, who noticed everything.

Arcade leaned over and read through the paper, "so...does that mean we get to call you-"

"Don't," Six said, quickly, panicked, "just...just don't."

Nobody failed to notice it now. Arcade gently squeezed his shoulder and slipped away.

"So, you gonna go?" Cass asked, with her usual lack of tact. 

Six stared at the unfamiliar names before him, details of jobs he didn't remember, places he didn't remember seeing, "I dunno..." he breathed, "it's a lot to take in."

"Well, I'll be heading down that way day after tomorrow, so, y'know, if you need the company."

Six nodded, his eyes still fixed on the paper. "Thanks Cass," he mumbled, then realising he was being rude, " _thanks_ Cass. I do appreciate this."

Cass beamed at him and followed Arcade out. Six was oblivious that Boone remained; he usually faded into the background. If he'd remembered he was there he might have done a better job of hiding the tears that came, unbidden, as he stared at the life he might as well never have had.

 

* * *

 

 

The following evening saw the courier find Boone, laying into a line of beers in the Wrangler. Quieter there. Less People. Less chance of one of the gang popping in to join him in his drinking. Boone took his drinking very seriously.

The courier slipped onto the stool next to him and held his fingers up for another two beers. They had finished them before Six spoke, staring into the empty bottle, "going to see my folks," he said, quietly, "I was wondering if you wanna come with?" Boone rarely showed surprise, yet he was obviously taken aback by the courier's offer. "The other's...they're all hung up on this idea that I'm gonna find my family, remember everything and ride into the sunset on the back of a brahmin or something. You're...you're a little more realistic than that..."

Boone gave a snort, but he appreciated what he meant, "sure."

The courier sighed, relief flooding through him, or was that the beer; for a moment he'd seemed as unsure as the kid who'd wandered into the sniper's nest inside an oversized dinosaur. "Thanks."

"Don't have to thank me. Could do with another beer though."

Six chuckled and held up another two fingers.

 

* * *

 

As they neared the NCR outpost Six got jumpier and jumpier. The town they were heading for, little place with an unremarkable name, lay some miles from the spot where Six had met Cass drinking her life away. They could walk it in half a day and the journey, according to Cass, wasn't even that difficult. But the closer they got, the more obviously distressed Six got. It was a good thing he'd asked Boone to come along, the kid couldn't aim for shit like this.

"What's eating him?" Cass asked, as she and Boone observed the courier, from a distance, vomit... _again,_ nerves getting the better of him.

Boone fished out some purified water, "s'not just his family he's meeting," he muttered, "it's himself. Everything he was before."

It was probably the most Boone had spoken in Cass' recollection, and it was pretty profound, so it probably deserved more than the, "huh?" Cass responded with.

Boone sighed, if she didn't get why having to meet the family you didn't remember, or return to the life you had no recollection of, was probably the most nerve-wracking thing Six had faced, Hoover Dam included, Boone was unlikely to make her see it. So he didn't expand the point, and handed the courier the bottle of water. 

"What if I was a dick?" Six asked, suddenly, later that night, at camp, though he seemed to address the camp-fire more than Boone. "Like, seriously, what if I was this monstrous bastard, who...I dunno...tortured people or something."

"Won't matter none," Boone had said, eventually, when it became clear the courier was actually waiting for an answer.

"No I'm serious, I could have done anything. They might hate me. I might be the most hated man in the West for all I know."

Boone closed his eyes and thought about the miserable fuck up who joined the courier at Novac. Thought about the sympathy the man had had even when he found out what Boone had done to Carla...had done at Bitter Springs.

He said again, more firmly, "won't matter none."

 

* * *

 

 

They dropped Cass at the outpost and Six seemed a little better for it. Not that the company hadn't been appreciated, but his words at the Wrangler rang true. Cass expected the courier to find a happy family reunion waiting for him and failed to grasp why they might not be overwhelmed to see him. Or him them.

It was still light when they found the place. Small town, not much bigger than Novac, but busier. Given it's proximity to the NCR outpost, the last stop before the Mojave, there were traders on every corner. There was a motel, caravan guard pointed it out when Six asked for somewhere to stay. They only took the one room, more out of habit than a lack of caps. It didn't look all that different from Six's room in Novac. It was comforting, familiar, in a place that so far had remained completely alien to the courier.

Boone watched him unpack, meticulously, finding a place for anything and everything in his pack. The courier rarely unpacked, even his belongings in the '38 were thrown haphazardly into whatever wardrobe, cupboard, box, or surface was free. Sometimes he'd at least throw the food in the fridge, but there was no doubt in Boone's mind that he was just procrastinating. Even more so when Six started to rearrange the food by size.

"Hey," Boone snapped, "go."

The courier stared at him, "you'll be ok?" reaching for something to hold him here for just a moment longer.

Boone chuckled despite it all. He'd survived everything the Mojave had thrown at them, he could surely survive a few hours in a motel room, in an established town, without the courier's shoddy aim. Six flushed, even though Boone hadn't spoken. "yeah...you're right." He took a deep breath, "ok...here I go." He got to the door and glanced back at the sniper, "you'll be here, right?" Boone simply glared in response, "ok ok, I'm gone."

 

* * *

 

 

When he came back a couple of hours later, the courier looked both relieved and exhausted. Collapsing on the bed, face down, Boone went to the fridge to grab him a plate of iguana bits. Six had a sweet tooth, so he dipped them in agave - the courier's favourite snack. He left the plate on the night-stand and went back to scrubbing their armour. Old habits died hard and Boone always went to bed with his uniform ready for the morning.

"So..." Six said, crunching on the bits, "I have a mother, father and brother - older." He seemed almost thoughtful, "my father's a brahmin farmer..." Boone chuckled; Arcade had often teased Six about being descended from farming stock. Nobody with such terrible table manners could be anything else. "...my mother keeps house and my brother helps the old man about the place. They do good business actually. Lots of traders looking to trade up or buy." He spoke as though it were an observation as simple as how much abraxo Boone was using, or the colour of the walls. "They cried...a lot," he whispered. "Cried more when I didn't remember them. My...mother," he stumbled over the word, "gave me a tour of the house twice, but didn't spark anything."

"What's your room like?" Boone asked, feeling he should at least try to contribute to the conversation.

Six made a funny noise in his throat and suddenly found his feet very interesting. "I uh...I..I don't live with them." Something about the way he said it caused Boone to stop what he was doing and look up at the obviously flushed courier. "I...I live on the other side of town. With my uh...my boyfriend."

Boone snorted, then chuckled, then unable to stop it - laughed, an actual laugh that made Six smile to hear it. They'd often joked about Six having a wife and a dozen kids back home, who'd be pissed to learn the courier had sleeping with half the men in the Mojave. Six was grinning too, even if his eyes revealed how terrifying the prospect of actually meeting the man was, "seeing him tomorrow, apparently."

Boone went back to drying out the armour, still chuckling. Six wandered off and started getting ready to turn in. Boone had already figured the courier might need the bed more than him and had lain his bedroll on the floor, after determining the sofa was far too lumpy to be of any use.

"Hey Boone," Six called after they had both settled down, lights off, clothes laundered, "I'm really glad you came with me...thanks...'ppreciate it."

The grunt he received in response might have meant, ' _you're welcome_ ,' ' _no problem_ ,' or more likely, ' _go to sleep, Six._ '

 

* * *

 

 

With Six out for the day, Boone took to exploring the town. Everyone was surprisingly friendly, probably because of the amount of travellers that passed through. Nobody seemed offended when the sniper responded to their attempts at conversation with little more than a curt nod. He bartered some cigarettes from a trader, picked up some snack cakes and sarsaparilla from the town's general store, and made idle conversation with a caravan guard who was ex-NCR like himself.

He saw Six in the afternoon, seemingly having a tour of the town, at the hands of a man Boone presumed to be his "boyfriend." The courier saw him, waved and jogged over to him.

"Having fun?" Six asked. Boone indicated the snack cakes in his pack and Six beamed, "you're the best." Boone looked over the courier's shoulder at the other man. He was big, bigger than Boone at any rate and considerably bigger than the courier. A brahmin farmer if ever Boone saw one; a shotgun slung casually over his back. He wasn't unattractive, but the scowl he wore while glaring at Six did nothing for his features. Boone wondered if the courier felt anything for him. He didn't look like the kind of man Six would settle down with. "That him?" Boone asked.

The courier nodded, not looking back, "his name's Craig," Six said, amused.

"No kidding," Boone chuckled. Alerted by the laugh, the other Craig's eyes narrowed. "Not the smiling type, huh?" Boone muttered.

Six glanced back, "aw hell, let's hope he's not the jealous type." He chuckled as he left the sniper, returning to the other man, but Craig didn't take his eyes off Boone, even after the courier started pulling him away. Boone stared back, impassive, and for little reason decided then and there -he didn't like him.

 

* * *

 

 

Six came back only to change. "Dinner with the family," he groaned, "wouldn't take no for an answer. Apparently I'm quite the gourmet chef..." Boone grinned, Six couldn't cook for shit. He'd burned cram once. From the bathroom the courier called, "look, I'm sorry. This can't be fun for you. If you wanna head off..." he trailed off, his tone suggesting it was the last thing he wanted.

"I'm good," Boone had already resolved to stay for as long as Six needed to figure this shit out. Was the least he could do for the man who took him to Bitter Springs and stayed, even when over a dozen legionaries poured into the camp.

"Thanks," Six called, gratitude evident in his voice. He rummaged in his bag and threw a copy of the Milsurp Review at the sniper, "picked that up for you. Good piece in there on hollow point ammo, it reckons..." Boone raised an eyebrow, he was procrastinating again, "ok ok, I'm going."

 

* * *

 

 

When Six didn't return that night Boone had hoped it was because he'd had a good time. Maybe started to relate to them a little even if he couldn't remember them. But when the courier stumbled into the room mid morning, dark shadows under his eyes, Boone didn't think he looked like a man who'd had a good time. He just about murmured, 'morning' to Boone and disappeared into the bathroom. The pipes protested loudly, as he turned on the shower while Boone threw together something passable to offer him for breakfast.

"Craig...he...he uh...asked me to go home with him after dinner," Six slurred into his eggs, exhausted and thoroughly flushed from the shower. He looked...vulnerable, practically asleep in the chair, stray strands of short, wet hair falling over his eyes as he told of how his family had been pretty insistent he went with him.

_Might help you remember? Might trigger something?_

_Craig's missed you so much, Go on honey, for his sake if not yours._

"He...well...you know," Six said, breaking off, unable to quite voice what had happened.

_I waited for you...come on what're you afraid of?_

_I'm just really tired._

_Is there someone else? The sniper? You been fooling around behind my back?!_

Boone didn't know, but he wasn't going to pry. Six finished his breakfast and turned into bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow. Frowning, Boone cleared up and sat on the uncomfortable sofa, feeling distinctly like he was taking first watch.

 

* * *

 

The hammering at the door a couple of hours later could have raised the dead. The courier jerked up, dazed, half unconscious still, but Boone had grabbed the 10mm the courier used and moved to the door. But when he opened it, it was only Craig. With the customary scowl he pushed past Boone, "where were you?" he barked at Six, "you said you'd be home for lunch."

Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Six hesitated then grinned the grin that had gotten him so far in the wastes. "Sorry...didn't get much sleep last night," he said meaningfully, with only the hint of an edge in his voice.

Craig was unmoved, "come on. You said you'd come." Six's grin faltered but he rose anyway, "I'll wait outside", Craig announced, "don't be long, your mother is waiting too."

He left as abruptly as he'd entered, without so much as a glance at Boone.

"Hey," Boone said, catching Six across the chest as the courier made to follow. "You don't have to go."

The smile Six gave didn't quite reach his eyes, "I'll go. They've all been so worried about me. It's the least I can do I guess...after everything they've been through."

"They get shot in the head too?" Boone snapped, a little more venemously than he'd intended.

Six didn't seem to mind. "It's hard on them too...Craig especially...I think. It's ok."

But he didn't seem particularly happy as he left.

 

* * *

 

 

Six wasn't back when darkness fell over the town and three nights spent staring at the same uninspiring walls seemed to be Boone's limit, so he wandered on down to the bar he'd glimpsed when they arrived.

Given how busy the place was as a general rule, he was surprised to find the bar so quiet. Suited him just fine.

A group of caravan guards waved at him as he entered, recognising the look of an ex military man with no company. The beret if nothing else gave it away. They offered him a seat but took no offence when Boone declined, propping himself at the bar, ignoring the locals who ignored him in turn.

The barmaid reminded him of the woman at Goodsprings the few times Six and he had passed through; matronly, friendly, happy enough to leave him alone after serving him a beer. After the third beer though, she didn't move away. "You came in with Craig's fella, right? Skinny boy, looks like a good gust o' wind'd do him over."

Boone sipped his beer, a slight nod the only answer he gave. She sighed, "shame. Thought he'd have gotten away like he planned." This was no ordinary bar small talk, she looked genuinely crest fallen at the revelation. "Planned?" Boone asked, as she moved off.

"Sure. Came in one night, happy as pie. Landed a run that would take him to Vegas and pay him enough that he wouldn't come back. Hadn't told his parents, or Craig, obviously. Craig always hated him working for the Express. Took him away from home too often,. he used to say. His parents weren't all that keen either, wanted him to take up the farm even though they've got the other boy practically born a brahmin, he gets on with them so well. When he didn't come back I hoped he'd gotten away like he'd wanted. But...well...seems like it weren't meant to be."

"Why wasn't he going to tell, Craig?" Boone prompted, not entirely sure he wanted to hear the particulars of the courier's love life, but it seemed important.

The woman lowered her voice, even though there was nobody nearby. "Bad egg that one. Nice enough to his friends, but...bit too possessive of that boy, if you ask me. Used to come in here some nights bragging about how he'd had to teach him a lesson. Good looking boy like that used to get himself into all sorts of trouble. Craig didn't like it. S'why I think the kid was so happy to get that job to Vegas..." Boone's hand was clenched around the beer bottle so tight his knuckles were blanched white. "Shame he came back," the woman sighed, "nowt's changed."

The bar doors opened and Craig happened to walk in, jovially greeting some of the locals. He was almost unrecognisable with a smile. "Usual, Maisie!" he called,cheerfully. The woman pulled out a beer, "on it's way," but under her breath she muttered, "damn shame."

Boone was already out the door.

 

* * *

 

 

After establishing that Six wasn't in the motel room, it only took him one local to find out where Craig and ' _his fella_ ' lived. There was no answer when he hammered on the door, even though the lights were on. Figuring the worst he could do was break into an empty house, he leant his weight against the door and stepped inside, not in the least reassured when he saw the hallmarks of a recent struggle. The house wasn't large, he found Six sitting in the bedroom on the floor, the mess a testament to further struggle. He didn't acknowledge Boone, though the sniper slid down onto the floor beside him.

“Didn't think it would be like this,” he murmured, “thought...well...thought it'd be different.”

He turned to face Boone who hissed reflexively when he saw the bruises blooming on one side of his face. “Took down Cottonwood Cove, retook Nelson, killed Caesar in his own fort...couldn't raise a fist to him, not even to stop him. Just kept thinking, wow, he must really love me to get so angry. Kept thinking how fucked up it must have left him for me to be gone all this time...”

“He can cry me a river,” Boone spat. Scrambling to his feet he hoisted Six up, “C'mon.”

The courier stared at him as though he'd only just registered Boone was even there. “Where?”

“Home.”

Six glanced around the place, “this is home, I guess.”

“Bullshit,” Boone snarled and a little harsher than he'd intended shoved him towards the door.

 

* * *

 

The door had barely closed behind them before Boone had their packs out and was dividing their supplies.

“We're going now?” the courier asked, surprised.

Boone nodded, throwing some ammo into a pocket. “Nothing for you here.”

Six hesitated, but only for a fraction of a second before he emptied what remained in the fridge into his pack. He left town with only one backwards glance, looking back on the life he still didn't remember and for once thinking maybe that was a mercy. Boone's hand appeared on his shoulder, reassuringly, and together they disappeared into the darkness.

 

* * *

 

 

Boone's plan to beeline for NCR outpost was somewhat scuppered when he saw the courier wincing with every step, though he'd never admit discomfort. When they came across a stream, Boone stopped them and started setting up camp. They had a few hours yet before daylight. “I'll take watch,” Boone muttered as the courier unrolled his bed roll.

Six barely mumbled his thanks before he was asleep. Boone smirked and covered him with a blanket. He sat close to the courier, inadvertently watching him sleep. In the moonlight Six seemed paler, more vulnerable, and the bruises looked even angrier. Boone gripped his rifle tightly and hoped he'd get to kill something tonight.

 

* * *

 

There was a crow's nest nearby so they had eggs for breakfast. Six demolished his, but seemed a little hesitant, his eyes straying occasionally to the way they had come, back to the town just an hour or so away.

“You ok?” Boone asked.

Six seemed to mull it over, “yeah...I guess. Just feel bad I think. Bad for leaving them. They were all so happy to have me back, I just feel like I let them down. Maybe if I'd stayed a bit longer...” Boone gestured angrily to the courier's blackened eye, “yeah I know...it's hard to explain,” he trailed off, looking at the stream. “Maybe I'll have a swim.”

“You don't owe them shit, Six,” Boone said, suddenly. “Sorry...I mean...” his tongue hesitated on the unfamiliar name.

But the courier smiled, “Six is fine. That other name belongs to another life. Don't think I want any part of that now.” He stripped off and jumped into the water. His bare flesh was only visible for a moment, but it was enough for Boone to catch sight of the bruises on his stomach and thighs.

“You gonna be ok here?” Boone asked, rising and taking his rifle with him, “I'm gonna go take a look around. Won't be long.”

Six glanced over, his 10mm was in reach, and nothing had disturbed them since they had arrived. Boone's expression was unreadable but the courier nodded slightly, and Boone set off.

Boone was gone for hours. When he returned his dusty clothes bore all the evidence of sniping. He didn't say anything about where he'd been, Six didn't ask, though he could guess. When Boone offered him a stimpak, 'to help with the bruising', he flushed bright red. He thought he'd hidden them better than that.

 

* * *

 

 

They decided to stay put for another night; Boone hadn't failed to notice that Six was still wincing at every movement. There wasn't anything to hunt and so they relied on tins of porn n beans for supper, both eating in comfortable silence until Six broke it with, “he kept saying how much he missed me. Kept saying how hard it had been on him.” Boone was in no doubt the courier was carrying on a conversation he'd been having in his head. “Made me feel like shit. Like I owed him...so when he...when...well...I just didn't feel like I could fight him off. Kept thinking how awful it must have been to have lost me for so long and to have me back, but not able to remember anything...” he looked up at Boone, “you know...if you hadn't dragged me out of there...I would have stayed.” Boone flinched, that was a scenario he wasn't quite ready to entertain. “He's dead isn't he?” Six asked, quietly.

The sniper took a swig of beer, “yeah.”

“Huh. Guess I should be sad or something.”

“If y'like,” Boone shrugged.

“Got a lot to thank you for,” Six murmured, thoughtfully.

Boone wasn't so good at the mushy stuff, so he didn't say anything, focusing instead on retrieving the last of the beer from his pack. When he straightened he found Six beside him, having moved without making a sound. “Thanks,” Six muttered and quickly pressed his lips to Boone's.

To say the sniper was surprised was an understatement, but the kiss was over before it began, so he barely had time to formulate a reaction. Perhaps what was more surprising was that kissing Six wasn't nearly as weird as he thought kissing another man would be. His lips were soft, softer even than Carla's, and it felt comforting, familiar even, though it lasted but a moment.

When he pulled away, the courier leant back on his haunches, looking up at Boone, almost uncertainly. Boone thought for a moment, should he kiss him back? The prospect wasn't as unappealing as it might have been ten minutes ago, but Six was still bruised, looked vulnerable and Boone's mind was reeling. So he flipped off the cap on another beer and settled for, “you're welcome.”

 

* * *

 

Neither of them mentioned the kiss again that night, though for Boone it was foremost on his mind. Six realised Boone hadn't slept and insisted on taking first watch. But Boone wasn't convinced and said he could take first watch when he felt better. Besides, his mind was running away with him and he knew sleep wouldn't be forthcoming anyway. In the meantime Six talked about his family. Their interest in the hero of Hoover Dam extended as far as wondering if he'd come home to feed the brahmin now. Should never have got the courier job, his brother told him. Nothing good came of it. “It's weird...I was so worried about finding out that I was this horrible person. I mean that's why I'm always helping everyone right? Figured if I was a monster I could do good now, and if not then worst I've done is help out. But I wasn't a monster, wasn't a good guy, I was nothing. Just a guy to scared to get away from a bully.” He sounded almost angry at himself, and after a while said, “just wanna go home. Back to the '38. Back to being Courier Six.”

“For what it's worth, you'll always be Courier Six to me,” Boone mumbled as Six settled into his bed roll.

He could hear the courier's smile, “thanks. You'll always be Boone, too.”

 

* * *

 

 

Six left any reservations he had about 'abandoning' his family at the camp-site. Boone reassured him, as they packed up, that he was doing right. Not that Craig would be waiting for him if he had gone back. Boone had left him a bloody mess on his own doorstep; the last thing he never saw.  
  
The courier had slept soundly under Boone's watchful eye, and if the sniper had found himself staring at the courier for longer than necessary, he could claim it was to make sure that the guy was ok. As for why his eyes kept wandering towards Six's lips and remembering...he had nothing. Nothing that he could explain at any rate.  
  
They had made it back to NCR outpost without incident when Boone had paused. Six looked down from their vantage point at the slow flow of caravans and traders. He'd never been so happy to see NCR bureaucracy at work. He was starting down the hill when he heard Boone call, “hey.” He turned back, Boone was staring at the ground. Six waited, but the sniper didn't say anything. At the point when silence had strained too far to be comfortable and Six opened his mouth to question him, Boone stepped forward and in a single, fluid moment, cupped Six's chin and covered his lips with his own.

As far as awkward kisses went it made both of their tip tens and Boone's top three. Not least because Boone wasn't entirely sure what he was doing and Six was mostly trying not to laugh at the surprising turn of events. When Boone withdrew he wasn't sure how he expected the courier to react, but there was something unnerving about the beaming grin painted over his face. Embarrassed, Boone walked on, leading the rather hurried way to the Outpost.

Cass was at the bar, naturally, though surprised to see them return so quickly. “Didn't take you long,” she said, “you find your family?”

Six slipped onto the stool beside her, his eyes moving from her obvious concern to the implacable sniper and smiled, “yeah. Yeah I think I did.”

 


End file.
